Stouthearted

The current state of our country might be best described as tentative as we steer closer to elections.  With an uncertain future hovering over us like dark clouds on a rainy day, my prayer this morning brought a word to mind that I needed to look up to confirm its meaning: stouthearted.

Some people speak doom and gloom and others acknowledge a general feeling of helplessness regarding one’s ability to effect positive change regarding the state of our country, yet there remains great hope for those whom endeavor to remain stouthearted before the Lord.

Stouthearted is defined as “brave, determined, courageous, bold, spirited, valiant, fearless.” Merriam-Webster describes the stouthearted as not only brave and determined; but stubborn.

Finally, a positive twist on the word stubborn (I wish I would have known of this word in my teenage years!).

As we look to the countless examples of the early disciples, we see an uncanny depiction of what it looks like to live the life of a stouthearted follower of Christ. In the most peril of conditions, the early persecuted church showed a fearlessness that I, for one, cannot comprehend. 

Hebrews Chapter 11, the faith chapter, gives us an overview of the powerful testimony of our stouthearted brothers and sisters.  We read name after name of  men and women known collectively as the “great cloud of witnesses.” (Hebrews 12:1)  “Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goat skins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.” (Hebrews 11:36-39)

Reading the details of what the early believers endured can stir up fear in our hearts; though that is not the purpose of such stories. Instead, when we consider the persecution and suffering of Jesus and our fellow-believers we are to be encouraged, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:3-4)

If the state of our country has affected the state of your heart, I pray that you are encouraged today. God promises us that if we will ask Him for anything according to His will, He will give to us that which we ask.  Today, let’s ask for stoutheartedness—such a gift can only come from above. As we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, the cares of the world will grow dim and our light for Christ will burn brighter. 

Let’s determine to remain stouthearted and not shrink back in our walk of faith regardless our circumstances and regardless our personal outcomes in this passing world.

Stay the Course…

Sheila

She Laughs

As a woman, one of the more intimidating chapters in the Bible for me throughout the years has been Proverbs 31: The Wife of Noble Character.

Until now.

I have made a conscious decision to change the way I respond to circumstances or situations that I am afraid of, or which I find intimidating.  Instead of running FROM such things, I am running TOWARD them.  This decision stems from my realization that fear has no hold over one whom is mastered by Love.

We each choose a master: fear or love.  When we allow fear to grip us; we run from everything.  When love is our master; we have freedom to run into the clouds and into the lightening and thunder as we face the raging storms of our lives.  

We don’t need to wait for someone to give us permission to be courageous, “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” (vs. 25)  “Laugh” in this particular verse also means, "shall rejoice in time to come,” or “celebrate.”   Perhaps this type of  fearless laughter starts somewhere deep within the soul, bounces off the walls of the inner chambers, and finds its escape from the mouth via passage through the heart—confident, alive, radiant laughter.

What a beautiful depiction of our true identity as daughter’s of the King: facing the future fearless and full of laughter. Because her trust is in God, she has no fear of the future.

Instead of staying locked up in a prison of fear, or feeding our insecurities with lies woven in our heads like a masterful spider web,  we "speak with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on our tongue." (vs 26) “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” (vs. 28)

Clothe yourself with strength and dignity, Woman of God. Run as fast as possible head-first into whatever it is you have been running away from.  Don’t look back and don’t wait for circumstances to change. Choose to release fear. Choose to trust God.  Oh, and grab ahold of laughter. 

Yes, run as fast as possible toward your true self with the dignified grace of a woman clothed in fine linen and purple.

Stay the Course…

Sheila

Bleating Sheep & Lowing Cattle

I have been praying for more understanding regarding what it means to live a “new” life as a follower of Christ. It seems there is only one way to a new life—death.

Bear with me for a moment.

We read in Romans, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God….therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body…(Romans 6:8-10) 

The book of Romans is brimming with truth on topics related to struggles with sin, being dead to sin, being controlled by sin, being alive in Christ and how to live life in the Spirit.

In Romans 8:8 we read, “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”

All the dealings of the flesh, our sinful nature, must be crucified and put to death. The mind of the flesh, will of the flesh, wisdom of the flesh, purposes of the flesh, glorying of the flesh all have no value in the sight of God.

We are given a great illustration of the temptation to hold onto parts of our sinful nature that we feel are good and justified.  In I Samuel the Lord told King Saul “Now go, attack the Amalekites and TOTALLY destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (I Samuel 15:3)

King Saul sort-of-kind-of obeyed the Lord: “But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” (I Samuel 15:9)

King Saul felt justified in holding onto what was good rather than fully obeying the Lord.  The following day when approached by Samuel, whether self-deceived or in self denial, King Saul stated, “I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” 

But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is the lowing of cattle that I hear?” (I Samuel 15:14)

Samuel knew that the Lord had given clear instructions for King Saul to spare nothing—that which is utterly destroyed can neither low nor bleat.

There remains within this new life of mine patches of my old life that are still bleating and lowing.  Areas of sin that at times I justify as good and in rebellion and pride have been unwilling to crucify and put to death. 

Our Lord beckons us to destroy everything that belongs to the flesh. He yearns for each one of us to live the life of the risen Christ; whose sanctification can only be made complete through the nailing of the old man (both the sin that we acknowledge as despised and weak as well as every sin that we treat as good) upon the Cross of Calvary.  

In faith, may our prayers echo the prayer of Paul, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

Stay the Course…

Sheila

The Secret Process of Developing Hinds' Feet

(I wrote this blog about 6 years ago but never shared it. Though still in the process of developing hinds' feet; I have just recently been able to recognize in my own life that God does not "waste" one minute of time spent alone with Him but instead uses it for His good. In His time. Be encouraged.)

I’ve been thinking about life a lot lately.

Sometimes, when looking at other’s lives, it can appear that things have simply come together by some sort of magic.  This is especially true when we meet or hear of a person who is skilled in an area that is a perfect fit.  Elite athletes make their given sport look easy.  Billy Graham embodies every quality of a genuine evangelist. Beethoven and Mozart are synonymous with the word “prodigy” when thinking of music.  

However, we have not been given the privilege of sharing in the slow, painful, unseen process of training that is accomplished in the secret places years before the world knew their names.

Recently, I became a Certified Personal Trainer.  I studied for hours to learn what I knew would be expected of me if I hoped to pass the final test.  However, learning terminology and body parts did not equip me with the know-how to personal train.  God brought to memory this week the many years (13 to be exact) that I “personal trained” by myself in the basement of my home.  Each week I would discipline my body as I learned proper form and technique, all the while practicing in front of an old dresser mirror I leaned against the wall.   I would read and study, then go to the basement to put into practice what I was learning.  As the weeks turned into months, I began to see the personal benefits of weight-lifting and my routine became a part of my life.  

I had no idea that one day what I had spent years learning in the secret place would become something I would share with others in a public arena.  Without realizing it, I am able to “pull” from the private lessons that happened in the secret place and put those lessons into practice.

In my favorite book, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, an allegory of a fearful, crippled girl named Much-Afraid whom the Good Shepherd (Jesus) promises to take to the high places, I have been able to see that spiritually speaking, something similar is happening in my inner world .  

For several years I have been passionate for prayer, desiring more intimacy with the Good Shepherd.  I have wrestled with the investment of time given over to hours of alone time with Him, with nothing tangible to show as proof that my time has not been spent in vain.  This has challenged every fiber of my being as I was raised to work hard and give of my time to those things that reap a worthy harvest.

As Jesus continues to take me deeper into a relationship with Him, I am realizing that He is indeed taking me to the high places.  Yet at times the journey is painful and unpleasant.  I cannot develop my own hinds’ feet-- only He can develop the hinds’ feet needed to climb what appear to be impassable precipices.  Although unbearable at times, the only way to develop hinds’ feet is to go by the paths which the hinds use.  I am learning that just as my basement was the secret place for my personal training, my alone time with the Good Shepherd is where the secret development of my hinds’ feet is in full process—a process that demands there be no onlookers.

Perhaps you, too, are in the secret process of developing hinds’ feet as you are dangling from a precipice that you fear might claim your very life.  As Much-Afraid was staring up at the impassable precipice she was being asked to climb, the Good Shepherd said, “Why, I don’t know anything more exhilarating and delightful than turning weakness into strength, and fear into faith, and that which has been marred into perfection.” 

I may remain in this secret place for some time as the Good Shepherd continues to transform me from my present marred state into perfection.  

There is no other path to the high places.

Perhaps one day what is being done in the secret place will be revealed in a way that would not be possible had I not been willing to climb the steep precipice in the developmental stage of my hinds’ feet.

Stay the Course…

Sheila

Passion's Fruit

I had an interesting discussion with my husband last night regarding a phone conversation earlier in the day that was still on my mind.  I was struck by the passion the person on the other side of the phone possessed.  Her passion was contagious.

My husband commented that I have always been drawn to passionate people, which is true.  A person with passion, though flawed as we all are, has the innate ability to live through the strength of his or her passion while allowing the flaws barely enough strength to linger in the background.

Passion is defined as “strong and barely controllable emotion.”  Passion is also defined as “the suffering and death of Jesus.” 

We are Christ’s passion. Passion to Jesus was synonymous with “crucifixion, suffering, agony.”

How nearly impossible for us to consider that when Jesus beholds us, He is filled with strong and barely controllable emotion.  So much so, that He gave His very life that we might one day spend eternity with Him.

When the revelation of our fate outside of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is recognized and we choose to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior,  the byproduct of our statement of faith is one of us returning Christ’s passion for us back to Him. The wells of living water that flow within (our gift FROM God) can be poured back out (our gift TO God) as we allow the passion of the Holy Spirit to consume every part of our being. 

The very purpose of Christ’s death was so that we might bear fruit to God.  Paul, the author of Romans reminds us what Christ’s death means for us, “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.” (Romans 7:4)

Paul goes on to note that there are different kinds of passion, “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:5&6)

When we give our lives to Christ, our motivations and passions change.  Instead of spending our passion for our own sinful desires, we desire to spend our passions for God’s Kingdom.

What is your passion? Is your passion being poured back out in service to God? 

If your passion is running, then run as to the Lord.  Watch how many lives you will touch when you allow the fruits of your passion to point others to the root of your passion’s fruit.

If preaching, then preach.  If teaching, then teach. If building, then build. If running a team of sled dogs in the Iditarod, then by all means--run the race with passion.

If you are experiencing a season void of passion, I encourage you to go to the Word and read the Passion of Christ.  Then, ask the One who IS Passion to fill you with His passion.  Once passion’s fruit has reached its season of harvest, His joy will be complete and your passion will be contagious.

Stay the Course…

Sheila

Life's Essence

Something happened this week that caused me to hit the pause button for a moment.

In what seems like a lifetime ago through one lens and a minute ago through another, upon receiving word of a good friend passing away, my heart has been transported back to a time and place where I haven’t physically resided for many years.

The memories created between our two families came flooding back to my mind; fond memories of true friendship and now great grief at the loss of a man we called friend.  

The present demands of current circumstances often cause memories to fade as we attempt to establish new friendships in new environments.

Time continues to propel us forward, but the amazing human heart never forgets.

Though times change and people change, a person's essence does not change in the memories of those who have crossed paths with them at different junctures in their journeys.

Essence is defined as “the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.”

It is the essence of this man and his incredible wife that I have been pondering all week.  I remember the way she stared into his eyes like a star-struck school girl whenever her husband spoke.  And the way she laughed at his jokes giving him her full attention.  I remember his wit, his humor, his sarcasm, and his tough exterior that was nothing at all like the warm teddy bear he was once you got to know him. I remember his tenacious spirit and his deep love for his children and wife.  I remember two incredible people who somehow together embodied a beautiful picture of what marriage could and should look like—even in a broken and messy world.  

The amazing human heart fights hard to help us remember what truly matters: people.  Whether we know a person for a minute or for a lifetime, the impact they leave in their absence—their essence— can be unforgettable. 

Each new day provides us with ample opportunity to recognize those whom we value and treasure.  Opportunities that may not present themselves twice must be grabbed tightly with both hands because, as we all know, life is fragile, short and unpredictable.

May those whom we encounter in what may appear to be insignificant moments in our lives be blessed by the gift of the essence of life flowing through us as we keep our eyes fixed on the Giver of Life.

My heart grieves the loss of one who followed hard after the heart of Jesus. Though his wife, children, family and friends mourn the loss of his physical presence here on earth; the true essence of the man will be forever carried in each one of our hearts, never to be forgotten. 

Stay the Course…

Sheila

The Truth About Healing

(This blog post is longer than usual.  I hope you will read it through and if it doesn't pertain to you, that you will share it with a person who might be given a glimpse of hope regarding church hurts.)

Throughout the different stages of my own personal story of church healing, a journey which I still find myself wrestling through from time to time, I have realized a few truths that may prove helpful for others when relating to a bedraggled, wounded believer such as me.

When a person has been hurt by the church, they may not only struggle with those within the church who have hurt them but also with anyone who claims to be a Christian.  It’s not fair, but once trust has been broken, keeping those connected to the church at a distance becomes an automatic default mechanism for safety’s sake.

A gesture as innocent as a well-meaning individual telling a wounded believer that time heals, or that one must forgive, even when conveyed in the most caring tone is sure to feel like a stab to the heart.  What we hear from our severed hearts is that we should just “be ok” and get over our pain. The impending reminder of our failure to move forward reopens the floodgate to the verbal, spiritual or emotional abuse received by a past person or persons in authority, often a pastor.

The truth about a wounded believer is that we are an angry lot.  Instead of being left alone by church leadership so that we can “heal,” we need to be pursued.  We are in desperate need of a man of the cloth who is not willing to wait for us to ask for help, because we won’t.  We need to know that we are worth fighting for—not so that we can be useful to the church but so that we can be well. 

When a wounded person enters a new church with hopes of a fresh start, they can prove to be very difficult to read.  Body language threatens anyone to come close while the hurting voice within begs for acceptance. Often, unwittingly at times, church critics within the four walls watch from a safe distance asking, “Who does she think she is?” or whispers circulate that a person is unfriendly or an ice-princess.

Who DOES she think she is? The truth is that she doesn’t think that she is anyone at all; that is what she has been told by a brother or sister in Christ. The truth is that she appears to be cold, calloused and uncaring because she is afraid and unsure how to allow anyone close again for fear of re-opening her wounds.  Often times, the sight of a wounded saint unable to pretend they are well is more than a church is willing or equipped to embrace. 

A simple worship song intended to draw one closer to God triggers memories from long before her world unraveled; a time when she had unwaveringly believed each word she sang. Now, instead, she stands motionless, staring blankly at nothing, praying only for the song to end.

Throughout the sermon, a single word or phrase has the ability to re-open a not-yet-healed wound so quickly that fear and nausea overwhelm her anxious heart. She attempts to find the quickest exit, pushing quickly through the sanctuary after the last “amen” not because she is an ice princess but for fear of hurting another with the sharpened knife of her own tongue.

Although it appears that she hates the church, the truth is that she longs for the church (though she wishes she did not). Longing for acceptance for who she is, without merit, seems as unobtainable as jumping hurdles at the Olympics. The truth is that once a person has been deeply wounded by the church, they are never the same.  This truth is scary and makes a wounded believer wonder if they will ever be able to embrace their new identity.

True healing begins and ends in the sanctuary of our own prayer closets; only the Holy Spirit brings healing. It is on our knees where we learn than no person can nor should be to us what only our Maker can be—and so we wait for the Lord to renew our strength.

The power of the Holy Spirit enables us to re-enter God’s church; a healthy church. This is what the wounded search for; a church offering grace and patience in lieu of judgment or condemnation.

Sadly, many wounded solder’s turn away from instead of to the church.  The vulnerability required to re-enter a place that no longer feels safe can prove to be crippling.  And so, Satan continues to pluck God’s isolated children from the church; which is why the wounded must be pursued.

The truth about healing is that it takes time. A lot of time. Those brave enough to stay the course of the healing process do not determine the timeline for healing. Broken trust may take years to reconcile.

Jesus did not come for the well but for the sick and broken- He calls His church to do the same. Both within and without of the church walls.

Wounded soldiers, inflicted with life-threatening wounds from their own comrades lie in cold ditches, lost identity and lost voices, all used up, questioning everything they once believed.  The truth is that the church needs to care.

It’s time to rise up as the true church of God: relentlessly loving, relentlessly pursuing, relentlessly caring for and relentlessly standing in the gap fighting for freedom and healing for our brother’s and sister’s in Christ.

Ice Princess returns week after week with the hope that the church will embrace its true purpose; with the hope that the church will embrace her.

Stay the Course…

Sheila